Great Expectations 

   “Not all of us can do great things.  But we can do small things with great love.” St. Teresa of Calcutta 

   We sometimes over-reach in our efforts to serve the Lord.  We read the stories of the saints and think that we should be able to do the same, but that’s unrealistic.  We should always strive to serve our Lord to the best of our ability, but we must also recognize that we sometimes try to do more than our abilities permit.

   St. Teresa of Calcutta did incredible good in her lifetime but she never considered herself to be a saint.  She had a calling and responded; God did the rest.  She gave her best and God raised it to greatness.

   St. Therese of Lisieux referred to herself as “the little flower”.  In her humility she considered herself too “small”, too insignificant to serve God in great ways.  She therefore devoted her life to doing the little things that she was capable of with tremendous love.

   We must remember that God cares far more for our willingness to try than to the greatest of what we accomplish.  Some will be called to greatness in this life, but most of us will not.  God has a plan for each of; you may be destined to greatness while I may not, but as long as we are serving God with all our love and devotion, we are both pleasing God.

   It is right that we should always do our best to serve God in all we do but in the big picture our role is to offer ourselves to Him, seeking His will in all things and leave the rest up to Him and His plan for us.